Sony has such big plans for one of Marvel’s (if not all of comics’) most popular sometimes-villain/sometimes-antihero.

First there was the announcement of a solo Venom movie that Sony had said will lead to a Venom universe with spin-offs galore. Then came the Tom Hardy casting as the original Venom, Eddie Brock. (Go ahead. Do the weird Tom Hardy Bane voice in your head...or out loud for the daring. I’m going with, “What a lovely, lovely voice.”) Just last week, collectors lost their collective mind with the news that Carnage would be the antagonist in the solo movie, prompting a rush to buy “Amazing Spider-Man” #361 and pretty much anything Carnage related.

And for a short time, Sony and Venom were on top of the entertainment world, especially with the rumors that he would be tied into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I even read one fan theory that the alien symbiote was actually in “Avengers” or could be linked to it, anyway.

Then came the news that echoed across the land: Venom will not be linked to the MCU.

That tidbit in itself raises eyebrows, but the ramifications bode even worse for the proposed Venom franchise: Spider-Man won’t be part of the Venom-verse. How can there be a Venom movie with no Spider-Man? This smells like disaster brewing.

You see, the rights to Spider-Man movies is owned by Sony, who famously partnered with Marvel Studios to put Spider-Man in “Captain America: Civil War” and the soon-to-be-released “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” There’s already talk of “Spider-Man: Homecoming 2” and what villains from the Spideythology (I’m trademarking that term. You’ll owe me a quarter anytime you say it. I accept PayPal and beer.) may appear. That’s great for Spider-Man fans, including myself. Like most fans, I’ve been overall disappointed with Sony’s movie version of the wall crawler, so I’m excited to see what Marvel Studios does with the character.

The problem is that Spider-Man now has to be part of the MCU and can’t be affiliated with the Sony comic universe. Considering Venom has the same powers, a similar look (in case you didn’t already know, the symbiote originally bound itself to Peter Parker, so the suit is the same as Spider-Man’s black suit), and the entire origin of the character centers on a hatred for Peter/Spider-Man, it’s hard to imagine Sony pulling off a Venom origin without any mention of the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. My guess is that Venom will have almost no connection to his comic version, be it thematically or asthetically. Basically...he won’t be Venom, which also means that Carnage likely won’t be the Carnage we’re familiar with.

Did I say earlier that this smells like a disaster brewing? I’m certain that I did.

What does this mean to collectors? SELL!

The Venom/Carnage market is still very hot, especially with the latter. Last week I said that once a trailer is released that teases Carnage, you’ll want to list your ASM 361. After this news, I’m changing my opinion. I will be surprised if the Venom-verse actually comes to fruition. Yes, Hardy has been officially cast as the title character, and there could still be a solo movie. However, this will not be the Venom we want: it’ll be the Sam’s Choice/Equate version of Venom. As a fan of the comic and a proud of owner of almost all Venom and Carnage’s key issues, I’m worried about what the versions of these characters will do to their popularity.

If you’re looking for investment comics, I strongly recommend staying away from the Venom and Carnage issues that are vastly overpriced at the moment. A better place to put your money would be “Uncanny X-Men” #130 - the first appearance of Dazzler, whom Fox announced will be featured in the new X-Men film, “Dark Phoenix.” That issue is generating a fair amount of attention and will jump in value once she is officially cast. At least with Dazzler key issues, you won’t have to take out a loan and not get a return on the investment as I predict will happen with all those high-priced issues of ASM 361 flooding the market right now.

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